Five Lakes Activities

There are many things to do with your vacation time at Five Lakes Resort:

• Go fishing
• Go birding
• Hike the miles of trails
• Swim in the crystal clear water
• Play on the playground
• Get a suntan
• Visit Fair Hills Resort

Fishing

Lake Five has Black Crappie, Bluegills, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Pumpkinseed Sunfish, Rock Bass, Walleye, White Sucker, Yellow Bullhead & Yellow Perch.

Lake Five encompasses 224 acres and has a maximum depth of 77 feet.

Lake Six has a public access and is fished heavily by local residents. It is an excellent walleye lake. Inquire for maps and boat availability.

There are northern in Lake Five ranging from 0-17 pounds.They are an excellent sport fish and will bite on most anything. Largemouth bass fishing is exceptional with sizes ranging from 0-7 pounds. Pan fish abound all over the lake, and many can be caught right off your dock.

The best time of day is early morning and dusk when the fish are feeding. You can still catch some during the day, but they are most active at feeding time.

The best spots to find the fish depend on the season. In the spring, the fish are in the shallow parts of the lake, as they are spawning. Crappies and bass are close to shore. During the summer and fall, they move out to deeper, cooler water. Northerns can be caught trolling around anywhere, but the larger fish will go toward the middle of lake.

Best bait: Crappies like crappie minnows and spinners. Bass like minnows. Sunfish like minnows, worms and spinners (colored, fake worms don’t work well). Northern eat just about anything!

Tips:

• Carry a long nose or needle nose pliers with you. Sometimes the fish swallow the hook and you can’t grab it without a pliers.
• Carry extra weights if you are using plain hooks.
• Carry a minnow scoop for your minnow bucket. Make sure you change the water in the minnow bucket frequently, if you don’t, you will notice your minnows start to die.
• Make sure you have oars in your boat.
• Follow Minnesota fishing regulations and limits. Please feel free to practice catch and release.
• Be respectful of others on the lake.
• If you would like to mount a fish you have caught, all you need is a picture or length and girth measurements.

Birding

Five Lakes Resort is home to many species of birds. They make their homes in the acres of forest surrounding Lake Five. With over 30K of trails to hike, it is nearly impossible not to see Five Lakes winged residents.

Some of the species of birds that make their nest around Lake Five include,

• Wood Ducks – there are many houses that we have put up for them around the lake
• Grouse
• Mallard Ducks
• Common Loon
• Trumpeter Swan
• Kingfishers
• Yellow Rumped Warblers
• Piping Plover
• Burrowing Owl
• Loggerhead Shrike
• Bald Eagle

We are also located right near the Pine to Prairie Birding Trail, Minnesota’s First International Birding Trail!

The most famous Lake Five residents are the bald eagles who have had a nest on the east end of the lake since 1976. Beavers chopped down the nest tree in 1986, but they rebuilt nearby that same year. Dave Kaldahl put screening around the base of the new tree in 1988 to discourage those gnawing beavers.

Walking & Hiking

There are trails throughout the Five Lakes area, now all well-marked since the winter of 1991. Be sure to take the time to walk down to the marked area where the beavers took down so many trees and look for flattened areas where deer sleep. The roads and trails are used in fall and winter to haul out timber.